Imsticking's Leica D-Lux 4 Blog

I post it here and it sticks.
 

Leaving Heartbreaker

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Leaving Heartbreaker - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/1000 sec


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Leaving Heartbreaker - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/1000 sec

Shot around the Notting Hill Gate area of London in the summer of 2010 with a Leica D-Lux 4. The Silver Efex Pro preset can be found at the end of this post.

Click here to download:
HeartbreakerK3X400TXPro7.sep (4 KB)

Filed under  //   Leica   London   Notting Hill   photography  
January 30 2011
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Be Your Parachute

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Back Wheel - 7.9mm at f/2.8, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/50 sec

If you read my recent blog post about Seal's M9 contest, and you plan to enter, you'll probably know that there isn't long left to get your entries in. The last day to submit your entry is 5th February 2011. If you enjoy processing your digital negatives then you probably don't want to leave the shooting to the last minute. 

It's a month long contest, but I'm going to be out of action from Monday so I have had just 2 weeks to a) convince myself that making the effort was worth it, even if it's going to suck when I lose (this is tied in to my "What am I going to do today?" question) and b) find something to actually shoot that will form a credible entry. It's a 2 shot narrative contest so it's about telling a story with 2 photographs presented in chronological order. I've always been fascinated by time but this contest initially left me thinking that time will be my undoing. I won't find an opportunity within the month, or be able to get out and shoot it. Then your entry needs to clearly illustrate a chronology, moving forward. 

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Shining Star - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/60 sec

I had already pencilled in attending The London Bike Show at the ExCeL Centre in London, simply because I started spending more time on my mountain bike on the weekends, and enjoy drooling over technology that's new and unaffordable. It's one thing to see photos in a magazine, but when you can actually trip over something and break it, well it's special. Especially when the lower priced bikes are just over £3000. 

The show was actually a lot smaller than I expected, well the bike area at least. It was part of an outdoor show. It was much smaller than the Cycle Show at Earls Court towards the end of last year, and only 2 stands interested me this time. Cervelo and Pinarello. Kick-ass triathlon bikes at a price you can't afford. It's weird to pick up the front end of a bike when it weighs less than the tub of margarine you have in your fridge. It feels like it's much happier being off the ground. 

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Ramped - 5.4mm at f/2.1, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/60 sec

Off the ground is what I was looking forward to. The Clan, a stunt bike team from Scotland were performing a 15 minute show when I arrived and it seemed like anyone who planned to see them wanted to catch them at their first show. They gave 3 through the day, and I spent a good hour at the barrier waiting for show 2 to start so I could get some shots to hopefully enter into Seal's M9 contest. 

It was a challenge to shoot the action because the Leica D-Lux 4 isn't well suited to low light situations, and this was a big indoor exhibition centre with the lighting well and truly up in the rafters. If you go above an ISO of 400 you start to get a bit of noise from the D-Lux 4. I had to settle for some noise at times and experimented throughout the show just to keep my options open during post processing. Grain is very cool, but sometimes it's great to see minute detail too.

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Front Wheel - 9.3mm at f/2.8, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/50 sec

I've long since (last weekend) processed 2 images from the day and submitted them as my entry. I may have made a mistake in submitting too early, but never mind. I quite like one of the shots in this post more than the action shot I entered, but there are well over 100 entries already, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it! You aren't allowed to submit a description of your narrative entry, so lets hope the judges don't read this and feel a bit cheated. 

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Dan Air - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/50 sec

There is only 1 Silver Efex Pro preset below for these images because they were all processed with the same preset give or take a few adjustments for lighting. You can see more photos from the London Bike Show and grab more presets in my previous blog post titled "Back On Earth". 

Click here to download:
TheClanIlfordFP4+125.sep (3 KB)

Filed under  //   Leica   London   The Clan   cycling   event   photography  
January 22 2011
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Back On Earth

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Danny MacAskill - 7.9mm at f/2.4, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/25 sec

This is Danny MacAskill and he's not of this earth. He's a Scottish street trails pro rider. He became an overnight internet sensation in 2009 with this video filmed by his flatmate Dave Sowerby. It's had over 23 million views on YouTube and after watching it, it leaves you a bit confused about the laws of physics. The man rides up trees. That's all I'm going to say as the video speaks for itself.

I managed to catch Danny and a few of his team mates from The Clan, Scotland's cycle stunt  team, performing a demo at The London Bike Show held recently at the ExCeL Centre in London, England. You can read all about why I went to the show in my next post, which features action shots of the show. I thought I'd publish the quieter side of the show first as this is what I experienced firsthand before the real work began, for me, and The Clan.

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Pinarello Rod - 9.3mm at f/2.8, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/15 sec

The bike section of the show was actually quite small, and even though, again after last year's Cycle Show at Earls Court in London, some of the mountain bike manufacturers I was hoping to see bikes from didn't show their creations, I did find 2 manufacturers who make incredible road & triathlon bikes. Pinarello, and moreover Cervelo, make some of the most incredible machines on 2 wheels. I thought about shooting some of the bikes, but I find things that don't move to be rather dull to shoot and I wasn't in the mood for abstract or close-up macro photography.  

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Yeti - 11.1mm at f/2.8, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/25 sec

The more interested I become in biking and swimming (throw in running and you're training for a triathlon), the more I'm tempted to move from a mountain bike to something faster and lighter. Watching the documentary "The Science of Lance Armstrong", has something to do with it too. 

Click here to download:
DannyfordFP4+125.sep (3 KB)

Click here to download:
RodPinarellordFP4+125.sep (3 KB)

Click here to download:
YetifordFP4+125.sep (3 KB)

Filed under  //   Leica   London   The Clan   cycling   event   photography  
January 22 2011
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The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.

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Exit Music For Act 1 - 12.1mm at f/2.8, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/320 sec

Indeed, it is. Some people don't perform their roles properly, there's bad chemistry and some just aren't cut out for acting at all. Some people feel so alive and thrive off the whole idea of it all, needing very little prompting. Some people don't like the stage that much, and others can't bear the attention from the audience, so much so they get stage fright, and forget their lines. Some are destined to be extras, never to utter a word, much less it be heard. One thing is for certain. The play continues. No matter how much we disagree with the plot, or the role we are playing, the show goes on. 

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Places Everyone - 9.3mm at f2.4, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/1600 sec

"Nothing happens until you push". The words of someone I don't know very well, but words that left me thinking nonetheless. They fit in well with something I've started asking myself lately every time I feel like bailing out of doing something. I ask myself simply "What am I going to do today? Am I going to live, or am I going to die?". Needless to say it's not a difficult question to answer. Works every time. I was thinking about how unbelievably dedicated Lance Armstrong is when I asked myself that question for the first time (about a week ago). I've been reading Dan Coyle's "Lance Armstrong: Tour De Force". Dedication, motivation, persistence, positivity. Lance is constantly changing his life and evolving. From tweaking his cycling equipment, which back in 2004 he would refer to as "The shit that will kill them" (them being his rivals – the irony of it coming from a cancer survivor), to his personal relationships and strong bonds with fellow riders. 

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Don't Lose Your Head - 12.8mm at f/2.8, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/500 sec

I truly believe that to feel as though you have achieved something you consider to be great, you can not do it without at least some suffering or discomfort. Otherwise, you're just not trying hard enough, in my view anyway. Nothing happens until you push. Good or bad. But it's important to keep pushing. Ad-lib, improvise and experiment with your fellow actors. Yeah, not that kind of experimentation. I sent a tweet to Johan Bruyneel this week after reading an interview he gave in Cycling Plus magazine. Johan was the Directeur Sportif behind most of Lance's 7 Tour de France victories. What I'm saying is I'm  taking Gandhi's approach, with a seemingly selfish twist. Be the change you want to see in yourself. It'll propagate, I know it will.

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The Sequel - 12.8mm at f/2.8, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/2000 sec

I suppose I should talk about the photographs! They were all taken in Notting Hill in the summer of 2010, with my Leica D-Lux 4. The Silver Efex Pro presets are below, and if you want, have a look at some more of my photos taken around Notting Hill. 

Click here to download:
NottingHillTriofordD100Pro.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
NottingWallfordD100Pro.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
BrollyCoupleD100Pro.sep (4 KB)

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NottingHutXP2Super400.sep (4 KB)

Filed under  //   Leica   London   Notting Hill   photography  
January 14 2011
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Shooting for the Starbucks

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Walk the Line - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/400 sec

I've often thought that, although Starbucks get a lot flack in the UK for ruining quaint English high streets with their signage and great coffee, they do deserve some praise at least. There's always a real mix of people in them. People meeting socially and people meeting for business. There's always free Wi-Fi. Let's not kid ourselves, Starbucks aren't making a loss providing the Wi-Fi, but at least it's there. I've never seen anyone get a dirty look for nursing that one coffee all morning while using the internet either. If we didn't have Starbucks, we'd have a host of single-propriator coffee houses, but I bet we'd lose our free Wi-Fi. 

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Custom Weave - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 200, Shutter speed 1/25 sec

It's a shame they don't have an English version of their experience. Too bad they don't experiment a bit more with more cultural focused, or themed, stores. Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe they already do have a few? I think it would be cool. In a city like London, you could have a multitude of different experiences it's such a cosmopolitan city. It's a shame all they really want to do is sell coffee. I guess I can live with that.
I thought I'd share some of the photos I've taken over the course of 2010 that were shot in and around some of the Starbucks stores in London, with my trusty Leica D-lux 4. All the Silver Efex Pro presets can be found at the bottom of this post. 

 

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To Takeaway - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/25 sec 

  

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Polka Dott - 12.8mm at f/2.8, ISO 200, Shutter speed 1/15 sec

  

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Alley Cleaner - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/640 sec

Click here to download:
WalkTheLineIlfordFP4+125.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
CustomWeaveKodak100TMAXPro.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
StarbucksTakeawayKodak100TMAXPro.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
PolkaDottXP2Super400.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
AlleyCleanerXP2Super400.sep (4 KB)

Click here to download:
StarbucksAlleyCleanerFP4+125Split.sep (4 KB)

This last preset is my original attempt at "Alley Cleaner" above, using Ilford film and a split tone. It didn't fit with the rest of the photos in this post that are all black and white, so I reprocessed it with different film and left it black and white. Enjoy!

Filed under  //   Leica   London   Starbucks   photography  
January 4 2011
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Nothing Changes on New Year's Day

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Nothing Changes on New Year's Day - 5.1mm at f/2, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/400 sec

It's 2011 and I've made my resolutions. Have you? Do you even feel you need resolutions or are you simply content with how things are progressing for you? I think that anything that motivates you to do some good in this world, is inherently a good thing. If that New Year's resolution guilts you into action, then great. Me, I'm excited about this new year. Excited about what it will bring, and what I'll make of the time (not making of what it brings, but I suppose taking, in a way). Life is for the taking. I think I've always been too introverted or polite to even realise that up until now. Greed is something that doesn't sit well with me. 

But enough self-disclosure. The scene above was shot on Tottenham Court Road, London, in mid-summer 2010. I took it as a snap shot with my Leica D-Lux 4, while walking past. I couldn't believe my luck. The contrast between applying oneself, and not applying oneself screamed at me so loud I could no longer hear the traffic. It's easy to judge. It's human, but it's often not humane. 

The Great Leica M9 Give-Away Contest
A new year can be filled with promise, but there are no promises of course. Much like The Great Leica M9 Give-Away Contest! Musician Seal has generously provided Steve Huff with his previous black Leica M9 camera body (worth $6559 US) as a prize to a competition who's rules are yet to be published. The competition is free to enter and it is open to everyone. So help spread the word! If you're a photographer, or you own a smartphone, check-out Seal's new photo-sharing site PicOrTwo. Hrmm, I wonder if an iPhone app for the site will be released or at least an API to hook into existing iPhone photo-sharing apps.  

Exhibits
San Francisco - Henry Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century at SFMOMA until 30th January 2011.
London - Imagine: John Lennon by Tom Hanley at Proud Chelsea to 16th January 2011.

I haven't seen either, but I will definitely make the effort to see the, until now, unpublished photos of John Lennon by Tom Hanley in London. I love to see, what is often referred to by the media as, 'behind the scenes' photographs. Beyond the point where their access to someone usually ends. For me it's where the illusion ends too. I can't relate to illusion.  

Blogging inspiration provided by U2's New Year's Day ♫

Filed under  //   Leica   London   contest   exhibit   photography   street  
January 1 2011
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